In this video I am playing an improvised piece of music which I named Wildflowers in a Walled Garden. Wildflowers can be symbolic of resilience and hope due to their ability to thrive against the odds, and blossom despite not being nurtured. They also represent authenticity due to their untamed beauty that withstands a culling of nature. A walled garden can be symbolic of a safe haven for the many colours of the wildflowers to bloom, in secret and hidden defiance.
The Many Colours of the Wildflowers
I started in B Aeolian which initially felt like a melancholy representation of a lone wildflower, but then the wildflowers started to increase in number as the musical texture changed, and there was hope and emerging light in some of the major quality chords within the lamenting sound of the Aeolian mode.
I then shifted to D Ionian Augmented (aka Ionian ♯5) which can be surreal sounding, magical, tense; and bright and dark at once — which for me represented the idea of a mysterious and secret garden, and not knowing what can be found in the shadows; and its darkness felt like a cloud passing over the sun.
The C Lydian mode brought more light, like the sun coming out again, warming up the secret garden.
The A Dorian flat 2 mode (aka Phrygian ♮6) brought more mystery and darkness, like the sun starting to go down, but whilst in this section there was a hint of drift towards D Mixolydian flat 6, which is another mode of the same melodic minor scale — creating an ambiguous half light effect.
I then modulated to C Mixolydian flat 6 — this mode has a slightly dream-like feel to me with ambiguous light and dark at the same time, whilst also having a slightly majestic sound — which made me imagine defiantly colourful wildflowers in the twilit garden.
Then the light reappeared with a modulation back to C Lydian, before the music returned to and closed in the more elegiac B Aeolian.
Modes Used, Note Names and Parent Scales
| Mode | Note Names | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| B Aeolian | B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, A | D Major | 6th Mode of Major |
| D Ionian Augmented | D, E, F♯, G, A♯, B, C♯ | B Harmonic Minor | 3rd Mode of Harmonic Minor |
| C Lydian | C, D, E, F♯, G, A, B | G Major | 4th Mode of Major |
| A Dorian ♭2 | A, B♭, C, D, E, F♯, G | G Melodic Minor | 2nd Mode of Melodic Minor |
| C Mixolydian ♭6 | C, D, E, F, G, A♭, B♭ | F Melodic Minor | 5th Mode of Melodic Minor |
Interval Formulas
- Aeolian: 1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7
- Ionian Augmented: 1, 2, 3, 4, ♯5, 6, 7
- Lydian: 1, 2, 3, ♯4, 5, 6, 7
- Dorian ♭2: 1, ♭2, ♭3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7
- Mixolydian ♭6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7
Further Reading and Listening
Learn more about modes: Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
Seeing Into the Dark — Improvisation in G Aeolian & A Dorian ♯4
